Jokers Aside Part II
by Dawntale
Summary: The hunt continues for Gotham's mass prison breakout while Batman lies immobile up in the Watchtower. But the League can only begin to comprehend the madness of mere common mortals that steal, riddle and play a game without rules. Episode after Jokers Aside.
1. Chapter 1-Too Many Crooks Spoil te Broth

Previously on Justice League:

"Bats probably scares all the criminals that they'd rather stay in prison than face him"

"Where's the bomb Joker?"

"BOOOOOOMMMMMMM"

"BATMAN!"

"Diana, meet Robin and Batgirl"

J'onn J'onzz was curious. Very curious indeed. How could a man possibly survive a point blank impact from a rocket launcher - an M72 LAW no less. Even factoring in the enhanced physiology of the man and the protective armour of the Kevlar suit, it was impossible to still be breathing when the weapon is known to destroy heavily armored tanks.

Bruce was now down from critical to serious after more attendance from the Martian Manhunter. As J'onn's eyes roved the beeping machines, he absent-mindedly wondered whether Batman had relflexes fast enough to produce a shield immediately before the explosion.

'J'onn!'

He spun quickly around to see Shayera and Vixen struggling under Green Lantern's weight. Black Canary heaved Green Arrow through the door with Fire striding in close behind, Flash in her arms. The disoriented group was concluded with Shining Knight supporting Vigilante on his shoulders.

'They've been poisoned,' said Vixen. She and Shayera lowered John down.

'Can you get a cure?' asked Shayera.

'I'll need to see what the poison is,' he replied solemnly as the medics filed in and performed their usual medical procedures.

She could only stare and stare. Every inherent courtesy she possessed as a princess inexplicably vanished as she gazed, open mouthed, at the two apprentices introducing themselves before her.

'So you ran into Scarecrow?' Robin asked in confirmation once he'd explained how he and Batgirl had found Superman demolishing the University.

Recomposing herself long enough to seem less rude, Diana then gave a nod.

Before Robin could ask anything further, Superman intervened and said, 'Where's Shayera?'

'I left her with that green woman,' she replied.

'All right, lets find her and then we'll get the league down here to-'

'Woah, not cool,' Robin interrupted fervently, 'Batman isn't going to like you guys parading around his city taking over his job.'

'Well, we're not leaving,' Diana said immediately.

While the two were debating, Batgirl withdrew her transmitter that was beeping incessantly. She listened to it closely, not liking what she was hearing. In fact, she hadn't liked what she heard since Bruce had been demobalised.

'Maybe it's better if we do let the league in,' said Batgirl, holding up her transmitter and causing Robin to stare. 'Bane's been sighted at a chemical warehouse, Riddler's broken into Wayne Enterprise, and Catwoman is already stealing jewels as we speak. And that's just for starters.'

Batgirl and Robin glanced at one another. Then Robin turned to Diana, grinning his boyish grin.

'Too many crooks for two little heroes,' said Robin. 'Looks like we _are_ going to need your help.'

'I'll go and find Shayera while you head up to take over Mr Teriffic,' said Superman, already hovering above ground.'

'Wait,' said Diana. Her hand had flown to her comm-link.

She saw his curious stare. She paused for a moment and then smiled grimly at him. 'Good news, she's already back in the watchtower. Bad news, Flash, Lantern and Vigilante are down.'

'Well,' interjected Robin, causing them both to look at him 'I'm going to head off Riddle first. Your highness, keep contact with Batgirl. You coming Superman?'

Robin didn't wait for a reply but fired his grapple and sailed through the air with Superman swerving after him.

'Get anyone from the league down as fast as you,' called Superman's trailing voice.


	2. Chapter 2-Rubber and Rumble

Penguin.

'You don't think he looks like a penguin, do you?' asked Vixen as she, Shayera and Black Canary stopped outside the doors of a grand restaurant.

'We could keep guessing or…' Black Canary pushed open the double doors.

Cold air nearly knocked them back out as they saw the towering glaciers creating the icelandic restaurant. Dining tables sat grandly next to a pool of water, daring the rich to taste the extravagant chill of the place. Blue and white predominated the scene and the only vibrant color came from the roses propped in a vase on every table.

'Well, sure looks like Penguin paradise,' Vixen commented.

Suddenly she felt herself lurch forwards as Shayera gave her a hard shove.

'Duck!'

Canary dived out if the way as a gigantic toy rubber duck nearly ten times her size came flying at her, landing with an almighty thump on the glacial ground, blocking the door. The smiling orange beak just became eerily menacing as the duck slowly turned to face them.

'Duck all right,' said Vixen as she took a stance, barely wondering how the ground could possibly hold the weight of the massive toy.

Shayera wasted no words, launching herself in the air and raising her mace above her head. Shouting her familiar war cry, she slammed it onto the Duck's head only to find a jarring impact run up her entire body, knocking her back.

'It's rubber!' she yelled in shock whilst pulling out of her fall.

'Why's that a surprise?' said Dinah. She leapt away as a powerful beam blasted towards her from the Duck's mouth.

They saw the white eyes of the duck all of a sudden turn a phantom purple. Barely registering their shock, they ran as the eyes blasted at all three of them. Dining tables blew into smithereens and the ground finally shot shards of ice at them when shattered by the duck's eyes.

'That thing's probably powered mechanically from inside,' shouted Dinah as she leapt off the landing to fall beside the pool. 'Hit its eyes!'

Vixen grasped her necklace, called for the elephant's spirit and then charged at the rubber duck. Smashing into its body, she felt herself deflected back to slam into the walls. Though slightly annoyed with the pain, she grunted with satisfaction as she saw the duck topple and hit the floor on its sides.

Shayera launched her mace straight for the duck's eyes. A sound like those of glass being smashed followed by another purple whip-like blast sent Shayera swerving away.

'Cover your ears!' commanded Canary.

Canary drew a breath and released her piercing shriek straight through the broken eyes. She finally stopped to hear the expected crackle and crunch. Performing a backflip, she threw up her arms just in time as the implosion of the duck's mechanics reverberated to its outer shell, sending shards of metal flying out through the eyes of the duck.

'Duck down, Penguin to go,' said Canary.

'Let's go,' commanded Shayera, leading the way to a set of doors that appeared most dodgy.

They found themselves in a modern room, its wooden walls and floors in stark contrast to the icy palace. In front of them was an elevator that simply beckoned them to enter. Sharing a glance, Shayera stepped in first.

The doors immediately closed, but not before Vixen and Black Canary had dived in. Shayera felt herself thrown back against the walls of the elevator as it rapidly rose up. She was then slammed forwards and fell on top of Vixen and Canary, who had barely been able to rise against the pressure of gravity. A small ding and the doors of the elevator opened.

A short, plump man with thinning hair stood with his back to them, wearing a tailcoat and holding a black umbrella that gave him an aristocratic vibe. Surrounding them were controls that, at least, explained the behaviour of the rubber duck.

'I imagined him more…cute,' said Shayera, swiftly returning to her feet.

'You're under arrest small man,' said Vixen.

'Cute,' came the soft but sharp voice. 'But very naïve.'

The umbrella swung upwards onto his shoulder and they saw the nose erupt with gunshots.

Shayera raised her mace and blocked the bullets as both Vixen and Canary dived at Penguin. Pain greeted them in the face as both hit glass.

'Not today.'

Shayera heard him say the words a split second before he disappeared into a hole right beneath him. She shattered the glass easily and Vixen sped down the hole using the cheetah's spirit. Dinah and Shayera searched around for a source of light. It was then that they saw the countdown timer. The numbers were red and small and at two point five seconds.

'Oh, damn,' said Canary.

Ignoring the looming darkness they threw themselves into the unknown.

BOOOMMMM!

'ARRRRGGGHHH!'

Hawkgirl felt the breath knocked out of her twice, first from the explosion and then from Dinah colliding into her. Searing pain ran across her wings and from somewhere, she heard Dinah croak.

They crashed into solid metal wall. A low groan escaped from someone.

'Ow, my wing,' winced Shayera. Her wings were burning with pain and she could feel the sharp bits of metal cutting into the feathers. What was worse, both were touching bare metal on either side of her and with a sickening feeling, she knew they must be trapped in an enclosed space.

'Are you two all right?' asked Vixen from somewhere.

'Great,' said Shayera. She succeeded in her tone of bravery.

'Don't worry,' came Vixen's consoling voice, not the least bit fooled. 'We'll get out real fast.'

'Where did Penguin go?' ventured Canary hoarsely.

'He must have used another door because he disappeared just before I hit the wall,' answered Vixen. She blindly felt around the cold metal. It came as a slight surprise when light suddenly flooded the enclosure. She turned to see Shayera holding up her mace, which was crackling with that special lightning. Giving a smile of thanks, she turned back to the walls.

'Here!' Excited, she retraced the subtle lines that indicated the existence of an arch. 'Shayera, can you break this?'

The Thanagarian groggily rose up, folding one side of her wings closer so that she could move a little easier in the incredibly tight space. Raising her mace, she smashed it once…twice…three times into the steel walls. It flew off its bolts to shed brilliant light into their dismal state.

Shayera stepped out. One glance told her that Penguin had vanished. She turned around to see Vixen supporting Canary who had a gash across her neck near the throat and bits of metal shining from her chest.

'Is it just me or are they as hard to catch as Batman?' said Shayera with heavy irony.


	3. Chapter 3-Time to Run

Robin swooped down, landing lightly on the windowsill protruding from the building.

'Sure you don't want to join me?' he smiled lightly as Superman hovered behind.

Peering inside, he saw the room was empty, the desks splattered with paper as the people had left their work in a rush to escape the danger.

'That sill won't fit the both of us,' Superman replied. He folded his arms as he watched the boy carefully pry apart the window and slip inside. 'You know you could have asked.'

His only rely was an imperious hushing from Robin who stood against the wall and cautiously peered into the corridor. Clark couldn't help but raise his eyebrows. He activated his x-ray vision to peer through the walls, spying two mercenaries carrying M16 riffles.

'There's only two of them,' said Clark. Instantly, he zoomed straight for the corridor to knock them out and it came as a surprise to find his cape yanked back.

'What?' he said loudly.

Immediately, gunfire exploded. The 45mm head shot from its barrels and hit his chest harmlessly. Superman heard the bullets clatter to the ground as he threw two powerful punches that knocked both mercenaries down. Shouts and yells echoed down the corridor.

'C'mon,' said Robin, bolting down into the hallway. 'Couldn't be subtle for a minute could you?'

'What's the point?' Clark shot back. He saw a dozen assailants appear and, without pausing for breath, rammed straight into them amidst the hail of bullets that showered him.

Robin ducked a left hook, swinging his legs round and tripping his attacker. He launched an upper cut to the next one and then performed a mid air splits, his boots connecting to the foreheads of another two.

'Riddler's a tech expert.' Robin was forced to shout now to battle the hail of bullets mingled with cracking bones. 'We needed to find out what he was doing. With all this commotion he'll have erased everything by now.'

'You could have just asked me to find him and save us all this trouble!' Clark just managed to keep the irritation out of his voice.

'Not with those lead lined doors!'

'Led lined-?' As he said it, Superman's vision kicked in and peered through the corridors until they, indeed, hit the grey walls. 'Why does he always have to make things harder?'

Reeling in his indignity, Superman threw himself at the closed metal doors in front of them with bone-crushing krypton strength. The hinges cried in protest as they were ripped apart from the walls.

Robin sailed through the air to avoid the bullets that instantaneously greeted them. He twisted, midair, and dislodged two birdarangs from his belt where it wedged into the gunmen's wrist. They were not given a chance to cry in pain as Superman successively dislocated their jaws. Spying no other enemy, Clark lightly dropped down behind Robin, who was already immersed with the computer.

Though he did not understand the complexities of the computer software, he knew by experience that Robin was attempting to dredge up Riddle's last activities. He wondered whether he should disturb the boy. Bruce always gave him a strangely blunt yet sarcastic remark to any enquiries he made while the knight was busy with his hacking.

No longer able to suppress his curiosity, Clark asked: 'If I couldn't find Riddle, then how did you know where he was?'

Robin smiled slightly. 'This is the main system. All other computers are wired up to here so of course he'd be here. I just wanted to make sure we could surprise him because so far, I'm having no luck in tracing his last activity. He's erased them all-'

'Right,' said Superman. 'Then we're wasting time here. Let's go-'

'Wait, I think I've got something.'

The monitor flashed a simple blue screen with red words on them. Unable to control the chill that ran down his spine Robin read aloud:

I'm the one robber whom the law does not strike at,

Yet I steal what is most precious to men.

They can't stop me, but I can them.

They run, they hide, they flee outside,

But catch them I can without searching wide.

And when I do,

Bye bye…To YOU!

'A riddle,' said Clark in contempt. But to Robin, the riddle was like the guillotine hanging over their necks.

'It's time!' he cried out, spinning around.

'For what?!' said Superman, alarmed and somewhat confused.

'No! It's time!' said Robin, making a mad dash for the door. 'The answer's time!'

In that spark of a moment, Clark registered what the boy said. Everything seemed to happen in a rush yet slow enough for him to see himself spinning down towards Robin and closing his arms protectively around the boy. He saw the firm solid wall. Then came the big fiery ball of hot, chaotic flames.

Batgirl was frozen to her chair. She didn't know whether she had heard it.

Time. Yes, she had heard that word. Time was playing its game of deception. Time never stood still yet it insidiously decided to make her see still images as the explosion echoed through her mind.

With a sudden, raging jolt, fury gushed into her mind and sent her fingers flying over the keyboard.

'Robin!' she yelled. 'Robin. Answer me!'

'Batgirl?' Wonder Woman's voice crackled through. 'What's happening?'

'I'm not sure. Superman and Robin were in a building that just exploded. They're not answering.' The anguish just touched the girl's voice.

Up in the Watchtower, Diana blinked. An explosion, again. The same fate that had left the Dark Knight immobilized had now vented itself on his apprentice. Diana suddenly found herself guiltily wishing Bruce would not recover. She dreaded to think what he would do if he caught out the Justice League responsible for the death of his apprentice.

Immediately she banished the thoughts from her mind. Invoking her renowned sense of duty back to direct her actions, Diana quickly pictured the explosion. There was something nagging at her as she replayed her conjured image. Superman and Robin…

The answer coming to her like Flash zipping up the corridor, she hurried to relay her epiphany. 'Batgirl-'

'-Robin, please, please answer me. Don't make me go back to face Bruce alone.'

Wonder Woman heard a tiny sob on the other end of the link. But before she could ease Batgirl's pain a chirpy and wonderful voice answered them.

'You know it's tempting to do that. Wonder how he'd take it!'

Her heart racing with relief, Barbara suddenly found the humour back in her. 'You are so dead when I get my hands on you!'

'You don't want to face Bruce alone do you?' asked Robin.

'Well now that you are alive, which I really regret,' she snarled, 'what happened to Riddler?'

A slight pause made her narrow her eyes, giving her the answer faster than if he had told her.

'I'm going to chase after him and see if I can dig anything else,' Robin said. Before she could say anything else, the communication link was severed.


	4. Chapter 4-Cat in the Hat

'You've got no sense of imagination,' Zatanna said languidly.

She watched the other woman freeze, the feminine body curved in a feline fashion that only served slightly to repulse the magician. She almost expected the woman with pointed ears to hiss ad spit. If only that female feline had a tail, then she would have so much fun playing with it.

'Your one chance to commit the most fearsome crime and all you can do is steal from a jewelry store.' Zatanna twirled her stick while Doctor Light, hovering beside the magician looked across at Catwoman's now relaxed body.

'You shouldn't underestimate the power of a girl's best friend,' sneered Catwoman. Spinning around, teeth bared, she launched at her two captors.

The two Leaguers dodged to the side, only realizing after that they'd been deceived. Catwoman instantly pounced across the floor to kick open the door.

'That line is getting really old,' said Dr Light. She sent a blast that hit the cat squarely between her shoulder blades. Catwoman was knocked off her feet and crashed into the wall outside of the room.

Muttering an invocation, Zatanna sent chains flying out of her hat that wrapped itself around the crook.

'Well, that was easi-'

Catwoman stretched herself, arching her back and sucking in her stomach so that the chains cascaded down to her feet.

'Oh, come on!' cried Zatanna as Dr Light swooped past her. The scientist projected a whip of light and to her sudden surprise, felt it deflected from her control.

'See you later, ladies,' smirked Catwoman. A box suddenly closed around her, its exterior placated with question marks against a green background. Before they could do anything more than cry out, the box vanished in a puff of purple smoke right in front of Zatanna and Dr Light's eyes.

'Isn't that supposed to be your area of expertise?' Light enquired, her eyebrows raised.

'It's not.'

They whirled around at the sound of the bright, energetic voice. To their amazement, Superman came shooting towards them with a boy in a mask hot on his heels.

'That was tech stuff, not magic so Zatanna wouldn't have a clue,' explained the boy when he caught up. 'Hello, Z.'

'Nice to see you too,' she smiled. 'Would have been nicer if you hadn't insulted me.'

'I wasn't-'

'What are you two doing here?' Dr Light interrupted.

'Chasing after Riddler. He led us here, right to you,' answered Superman. 'We'll chase after them both and see where they've gone. Who was it you were supposed to catch?'

Blanching at the inadvertent reminder about their failure, Zatanna answered with slight bitterness: 'Catwoman.'

'What's she doing with Riddler?' Robin though aloud. 'Batgirl?'

'I'm checking that out now,' Batgirl's voice crackled over. 'But you'll still have to track them and see where they lead you.'

'Right,' said Robin. 'This is getting more bizarre by the minute.' He fired his grapple, grabbed Zatanna around the waist (ignoring her protest) and then shot off with Superman and Dr Light beside him.

'I'm perfectly able to support myself,' cried Zatanna indignantly.

Grinning impishly, Robin said, 'Too bad you haven't learnt teleportation. I'll just have to keep you from falling until then.'

'Dr Light can do that,' Zatanna shot back.

'Then should I let go?'

Not entirely expecting him to, Zatanna let out a short, shrill shriek when the Boy Wonder let her slip an inch.

'Don't-!'

The approaching head of a missile abruptly cut off her protest. Both Robin's and Zatanna's stomach plummeted as he released his hold on his grapple. The warhead glanced over their heads, frying their hair into a frazzle.

Superman shot for the missile. They watched as red laser sliced through the metal frame, disarming it in the same surgical fashion as a scalpel dissected a body. He hovered for another split second, watching the head fall.

'What's wrong?'

Zatanna's concerned voice brought him round and he saw she, held by Dr Light, was peering at a stunned Robin.

'Catwoman's at Wayne Tech?' he spluttered into his communicator.

'The placed just raised a silent alarm and the security footage is hinting Catwoman,' answered Batgirl. 'I can't see Riddler though.'

Superman suddenly spun around, as did Doctor Light. Red laser and white beams instantly cut down another two approaching missiles.

'I've still got him on my tracer but how did she get there so quick?' Robin, who had barely blinked at the sight of the missiles, was racking his brains, trying to find if he'd missed a clue or a hint. He was certain he hadn't.

Then Diana's voice interrupted all communication devices.

'Let the others go after Riddler. I'm coming down to deal with Catwoman.'

Superman caused another missile to explode harmlessly. 'You mean send someone down?' he said, frowning slightly.

'No,' came Diana's clear reply. 'I'm coming down.'

Chapter 5 – Admiration

Up in the Watchtower, Diana spun around to face J'onn.

'Will you manage?' she asked him.

'Always,' he replied with a faint smile.


	5. Chapter 5-Reflection

'All right,' said Superman. 'You heard her. Let's find Ridd-'

He sensed rather than saw the danger. The missile tore through the wall and shot straight at Robin who released his hold on his grapple. Dr Light reflexively ducked and the missile sailed past her into Superman's heat vision.

The moment Dr Light had dropped, pain seared through her arms causing her to release Zatanna. She could hear the magician's cry of shock but didn't have time to dwell on it because the next instant, another missile was already inches from her. She blasted it into explosion as she flew away to avoid the resounding boom.

Zatanna wrestled with a man who had crashed into her right after she was let go. Annoyed with the vice grip he had around her waist as they continued to fall, she whammed her hat onto his head, pointed her stick at it and muttered a little spell.

Zatanna retrieved her hat and kicked her attacker away, watching him fall with a flock of birds attacking his head. She felt Robin catch her around the waist and heard laughter coming from his jubilant face.

The laughter was cut short.

'What the-'

A bout of coughing and spluttering erupted from both friends. They felt rough hands tying knots around their wrist and ankles and then darkness swamped in.

Superman dodged the attacker flicking a knife at him. He landed a resounding punch at the man, wondering faintly whether the man was attempting to kamikaze. It was then, as he glanced down, did he see Riddler's quirky face grinning nastily at him with two slumped figures, bagged around the head, dangling against the box with the question marks.

'Dr Light!' he called out as he shot straight for the man in the question marks, his head pumping with hot, angry blood.

The scientist quickly set her attacker flipping away with two round beams squarely to the chest. Not waiting to see the results, she followed her leader.

The two of them chased after Riddler and his box, dodging the spray of bullets from the two bodyguards standing at the edges.

'He's got to know that doesn't work on us,' she said, swerving to avoid another hail.

The man of steel's only answer was to scowl.

They entered a tunnel and judging by the rusted and eroded railway underneath, it was an abandoned subway. Riddler's flying box turned right and the two heroes made haste to follow.

'Is it just me or is it getting darker?' said Superman as they took another complicated set of turns.

In reply, Dr Light lived up to her name and lit up the entire place.

'Argh!'

Her lightness suddenly became blinding white and she impulsively flinched away from the exploding light. She doused her illuminating hand. As soon as she did, the two of them were greeted by multiple copies of their shocked faces reflected in a maze of mirrors.

'Why do I get the feeling that I'm not in the mood to admire myself? said Dr Light.

Still in a state of shock, they floated slowly into the depths of the maze, watching as their figures copied their every motion. No sooner had they moved a couple of inches did they hit the cold, hard surface of the mirror.

'This isn't good,' said Superman.

A rancorous laughter echoed down, making the two of them turn sharply in search for the voice.

'Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who's the scariest of them all?' came Riddler's cackling voice.

'All right, we know its you,' Dr Light answered defiantly.

'Where are our friends?' Superman demanded.

'To answer that very riddle, you must look at all but the middle,' came the hated reply.

'What?!'

'The robin and magician hides from fright.

Move left and right and you'll always be in sight.

Round and round you will go,

Still the mirror will say no,

To whoever you want most.'

Riddler left the two of them with blank expressions on their face.

'Did you get that?' asked Superman, his face suddenly seeming older.

'No,' Dr Light replied. 'Did you?'

His lips becoming a very thin line, Superman recited the line he remembered, 'To answer the riddle, you must look at all but the middle.' At this the two of them spun around. Once again, all they saw where various forms of themselves twitching in all the mirrors.

'Where is the middle?' said Superman in frustration. 'What's the next part?'

'The robin and magician hides from fright,' she answered.

'That's obvious,' said Superman immediately. 'We know they're hiding from him.'

'Or us,' she pointed out.

His eyebrows shot up.

'Think about it,' she said, 'Riddler is hiding them from us and to him, you might be scary.'

'I doubt it,' said Superman. 'They'd sooner go to prison then admit they were scared.'

'But it fits with the next part,' she argued. 'Move left and right and you'll always be in sight. It's likely he's hidden them from us.'

She looked around.

'All of us,' said Superman as he understood what she meant.


	6. Chapter 6-Cat Fight

'You're a feisty little cat,' said the Amazon Princess.

Catwoman flinched but didn't turn around. Instead, she surreptitiously tucked away the item she had been hunting for. Unfortunately, it wasn't good enough for Diana's well trained eyes.

'Why don't you give me what you've just stolen and come quietly,' said Diana.

'You've got it wrong, girl,' Catwoman replied. 'I haven't stolen anything and I don't think I'll come-QUIETLY!'

With a howl, she spun around and launched a fly kick at Wonder Woman. The Amazon swatted Catwoman's leg away without blinking and sent the cat spinning into a wall.

'That's the first time I'll be nice,' growled Diana. 'And the last.'

'All right,' hissed Catwoman. 'Let's play hard.'

She picked up a conical flask that contained bubbling liquid and launched it at her enemy.

Catching the flask, Diana expertly tossed it such that it landed on a table spinning on its bottom for a full three circles before settling quietly down, the liquid just bumping at the rim of the glass. Her hands quickly flew to her lasso, which shot out and wrapped around Catwoman's body.

'You've got to try better than that,' said the feline.

Not to Diana's surprise, the lasso immediately dropped from her enemy's waist.

Catwoman leapt out of her trap, aiming for the door. She cried out in surprise when she felt a yank on her ankle that completely disrupted her momentum.

Diana watched Catwoman hit the ground and then sharply pulled on her lasso. She caught the flying feline's ankle and dangling the cat upside down, Diana shoot Catwoman unpleasantly hard.

'You've got serious issues, woman,' snarled Catwoman, her voice shaking with her swimming head under Wonder Woman's relentless abuse. 'Don't you know this is animal cruelty?!'

'Really, who could have guessed,' replied Diana, a hint of sarcasm mixed with humour trickling from her voice. She felt Catwoman's ankles attempt to twist free and she tightened her grip only slightly.

'Ow!' cried Catwoman. 'Even Batman wasn't this bad mannered.'

At this Diana's eyebrows shot up. 'He must have been _very_ bad mannered then.'

She couldn't seem to explain the strange prickling sensation she felt on her neck and it grew even more uncomfortable as she watched Catwoman's expression glaze over and an off-world smile touched the woman's lips.

'On the contrary,' said Catwoman airily, 'he's quite the gentleman.'

Quite the gentleman was an absolute misstatement, Diana thought. She knew Bruce could be exceptionally charming and the perfect man when it suited him, but rarely, if ever, did she recall Batman described as a gentleman, even by Clark.

Dismissing the bizarre thought, Diana reached for Catwoman's crime suit and grabbed the item which she had seen the feline tuck away. She was rather surprised to see it was a test tube containing a thick hair.

'Now what would a jewel thief want with this?' asked Diana sardonically, giving Catwoman a hard stare.

Before she could get an answer, Diana suddenly felt a sharp sting on her forearm. Looking down, she spotted a syringe sticking out of her.

The momentary shock was all Catwoman needed. Arching back, she grabbed the Amazon's wrist, snatched the test tube out of the Amazon's hands and then somersaulted away, making sure to land a hard kick on Wonder Woman's chest.

Anger boiling through her, Diana rose up and her hands formed a fist as she prepared a gut winding punch when a familiar, mad cackle echoed across the room. She saw, dimly, the pale, demented face of Joker, sitting cross-legged on a lab table. Images of the night before flashed through her mind, clear and sharp, sending flames of rage coursing through her body. Gritting her teeth she yanked the syringe out and tossed it to the side.

The ground beneath her feet cracked as Diana prepared to launch herself at Joker's twisted face.

'Ooohhh, Wondy looks ready to kill,' he cackled.

Her vision and hearing eerily blurring, Wonder Woman could scarcely make out what Catwoman was doing with Joker but she sensed that the jewel thief had passed the test tube to the Joker. Refusing to lose this chance of retribution, she pushed off from her hind legs. Instead of finding her fist connecting with Joker's face, she felt the hard stone floor rushing towards her, hitting her hard.

Struggling up, Diana fought with the drug Joker had dosed her as both his and Catwoman's face swirled in her vision. She was dimly aware of another cackle and much to her surprise, she dropped onto one knee.

Gritting her teeth, she forced herself to regain control. Something dropped lightly next to her.

'Take it easy,' came a soft voice.

Forcing herself to stand, Diana tried to identify the person.

'Wonder Woman, relax,' came the voice again, this time more imperiously.

A sharp sting to her other forearm made her react so violently that she swung her arms wildly, aware that it connected with a chest.

The room was swimming in front of her but slowly, amazingly, it was becoming clearer and sharper than before. She could make out the fine texture of the marble floors that made up Wayne Tech labs.

A low groan from across the floor made Diana spin around and immediately she flew over to Batgirl.

'Are you all right?' Diana asked, concern all over her face.

'I'm…' Batgirl slowly stood up, 'amazed I survived that.'

'What are you doing here?' Diana asked, helping the girl up onto her feet.

'The cameras caught Joker just outside of here,' answered Barbara, wincing slightly as she pulled herself upright. 'I wanted to see what he was up to. Now I want to know what the heck Catwoman is doing with someone like Joker.'

'She give him a test tube that contained some hairs,' said Diana, walking up to the particular table where she had seen Catwoman stealing the tube. 'Strange. Why isn't Quinn doing his dirty work?'

'This is getting as wild as that madman,' said Batgirl as she gave a surveying glance. 'But its going to have to wait. I lost contact with Robin just before I saw Joker.'

Diana gave one glance at Batgirl before she activated her comm-link. 'Superman, what's happening-?'


	7. Chapter 7-Light the Way

Clark painfully resisted the urge to punch the mirror for what seemed like the infinite time.

'This is getting us nowhere,' said Dr Light, echoing his frustration.

'I can't believe this,' growled Superman. 'Mirrors with kryptonite hidden under a frame of led. He knew every of my weak point to strike.' He glanced over at Dr Light, hoping she could provide an answer to their dilemma. His last two mirrors he had broken had only served to throw bits of the deadly substance at him.

Dr Light glanced around. 'It's a pathway of reflection,' she said. 'If we can find the source of the light and remove it, it should reveal the two.'

'I don't suppose you can just absorb all the light,' said Superman as he accidently bumped into another mirror.

Her eyebrows drew together in irritation. 'I've thought of that. The more I absorb the light the more the light gets replaced.' Not for the first time, she spun in a circle to see various forms of herself staring infuriatingly back. 'He must be connecting the source of it to a generator.'

'We only need a second of darkness to find them,' said Superman, suppressing his annoyance.

Before she could reply, Dr Light saw Superman's hand suddenly fly to his ear.

Batgirl had traced Riddler's location to a station centre. As she peered through her binoculars to see the man in green tights, she listened to Wonder Woman speaking with Superman on the other end.

'Superman's in a maze of mirrors looking for Robin,' said Wonder Woman the moment she severed the link. 'We need to turn off the light.'

'I've calculated about three guards standing nearby,' said Batgirl, tucking her binoculars away.

'I'll handle them. Just focus on Riddler.' Diana didn't see Batgirl's gaze of wonderment as she shot for the building.

Thrusting the steel doors open, Diana knocked the two guards unconscious before they could even fire at her. She flew up the to the next level and kicked open the wooden door that she judged to be Riddler's control room.

The door flew off its hinges and narrowly scratched Riddler across the shoulders as he ducked. It smashed into the glass frames surrounding the circular room and dropped outside with a thud.

Wonder Woman tossed the final guard to the side. She spun around to see Riddler point something at her. Not bothering to even raise her arms in defense, she watched Batgirl sail in through the opening the door had made and land a perfect two-foot kick into Riddler's back that sent him crashing into the opposite wall.

Barbara released her grip and landed lightly in front of the controls, her back towards it. She spun around and her stomach unpleasantly lurched as she saw a massive black wrecking ball rapidly rushing towards her. Her stomach lurched for a second time as Wonder Woman knocked into her and they both hit the ground.

Wood crunched and crackled, glass shrieked and metal groaned as the ceiling cascaded down on them. Batgirl peered through the protective arms of the Amazon that was currently shielding her to see Riddler had disappeared.

The moment she judged Batgirl was safe; Diana flew at the returning wrecking ball. She yanked apart chain connecting the ball to the crane and holding onto the small piece of chain left, she lowered it to the ground.

'I didn't think these were still used,' said Batgirl, furrowing her eyebrows as she reached Wonder Woman. 'That control room operated the generator for the subway station.'

'So when it was destroyed did it shut off the generator?' asked Diana.

'No,' said Batgirl amusedly. 'We'll have to go underground and manually shut it off.' She hinted at the ground that the wrecking ball stood on.

'This is usually Superman's thing,' muttered Diana as she rose up high above the ball. Throwing a significant of force into her strength she whammed herself into the ball so hard that it tore through the earth. Unrelenting in her momentum, the ball continued to pummel the ground until it finally broke through a concrete barrier.

Diana saw the generator looming into view and she gave the ball one extra shove before stopping her momentum.

The wrecking ball demolished the generator brilliantly.

The moment the light extinguished so did the rest of their copies and Superman saw the way to his friends. Feeling something had gone right today he cut through the ropes that bounded them using his heat-ray


	8. Chapter 8-What's Cooking?

The cave was as eerie and dark as ever but oddly, with the presence of the two apprentices hammering away at the gigantic computer and Alfred serving steaming mugs of drinks, the place felt just as warm and homely. Shayera was sitting down, her bandaged wings folded while Clark and Diana and leant against a table, the three of them watching the computer intently.

'Riddler seems to have borrowed some attitude from Joker,' said Clark as he thought about the man's laughter and riddles.

'He's not the only,' Shayera added. 'Penguin was using a toy rubber duck. Looks more like something Joker would do.'

'Yes, and that just adds another riddle to all this mess,' said Batgirl. 'None of it makes sense. I would have thought Catwoman would drown herself before she associated with Joker and Riddler.'

'Not likely. Cats hate water,' Robin reminded, 'But you're right. This is a whole big mess. Apart from the break in at Wayne Tech all of Riddler's movements were a diversion. What I'd like to get my hands on though is that box of his.'

'Did you find out what it was Catwoman stole?' asked Diana.

'I don't know what or whose hair it was but usually there's only a few reasons why someone would steal hair, especially from a lab that was working on DNA,' replied Batgirl, somewhat grimly.

'Joker wants DNA?!' Clark and Diana asked together, astounded.

'Looks that way,' answered Batgirl.

'It was a pretty sloppy job if that's the case,' Shayera said as the footage from Wayne Tech popped up. 'You were able to get onto him real fast.'

'Which just makes us wonder what the devil is he up to,' said Robin.

They all glanced at one another. Curiosity mingled with apprehension crossed their faces. They could only wonder and guess at all the possible schemes that rotated around the crazy mind of Bruce's arch nemesis. One thing was certain: they needed the Dark Knight.

AN: To all my faithful readers and all newly welcomed readers, I sincerely apologise for the MASSIVE delay in writing the stories. There is a whole host of excuses that I can give but I really don't think any of them are good enough or will be good enough. So, I'm just going to thank you for your unyeilding patience at my horrible delay. The story has some parts which I think will be a disappointment against the long wait and I also apologise for that. I hope there weren't any big expectations out there. On a lighter note, I do hope you enjoy the story and review it. I have a feeling that I've played some of the characters incorrectly. Would appreciate any advice out there so I can get a better story across to you. Just a reminder, all continuities are based on the DCAU Justice League and will be formatted as such.


End file.
